


An Accounting of Maladies

by lbc



Category: The Professionals
Genre: M/M, Older Lads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-25
Updated: 2012-08-25
Packaged: 2017-11-12 21:25:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/495805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lbc/pseuds/lbc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is the lads 25th anniversary of being together and Bodie comes up with a real surprise for a present.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Accounting of Maladies

**Author's Note:**

> This was done to honor the anniversary of Angelfish Fan Fiction.

Title: An Accounting of Maladies  
Author: lbc  
Pairing: the lads  
Disclaimer: Sorry I don’t own the lads.

Note: This story is set in late 2005 after the Civil Partnership Act went into effect.  
Please note that I fudged a bit with how old the lads are in order to have them in their 50’s in 2005 and Cowley in his early 70’s.

 

“Bodie, get your arse out here. Dinner’s ready!”

Nothing happened. Doyle stood staring at the rapidly cooling steak and potatoes, while the salad seemed to be wilting before his eyes. It had been difficult enough to get Bodie to eat “that green stuff” as he so affectionately called it, but if it wilted even an iota - - that would be that for his carefully prepared salad. Doyle was the first to admit that Bodie had become more careful about what he ate now days, but the tendency to slide back into bad habits was always there so Doyle was grateful when Bodie himself had suggested more “green stuff” as long as it wasn’t WILTED.

Sighing, Doyle counted to 10 then yelled once again. “Bodie, dinner’s ready, get out here or I’m going to feed it to the dog!”

Finally, the still handsome, somewhere in his fifties, man wandered out into the large dining area and sniffed. Smiling his most facetious smile, Bodie looked at the man he had loved for almost 30 years and said, “Did you call me?”

“Did you leave your aid out of your ear hole AGAIN?”

“Now you know, Ray, that I don’t need a hearing device. It’s just all those years of guns going off have slightly damaged my hearing. Remember that time when Wakeman tried to blow us up? That’s what it seems like sometimes. Besides, what’s this about a dog? We don’t have a dog.”

Doyle nodded but was more concerned about his dinner getting cold. “I know we don’t have a dog. I was just testing that failing memory of yours. Yes, I do remember the Wakeman case, but sit down now and let’s eat.”

Bodie smiled at the display of food before him, but quickly he seized upon the obviously wilting salad. Looking up at the love of his life, he queried, “Did you have your glasses on when you made this salad?”

A wrinkle appeared on Doyle’s forehead as he tried to connect Bodie’s thinking pattern and readily admitted that the pathway was unravelling more and more as the two men got older so he asked, “What difference does it make if I wore my glasses or not, which, by the way, I did not.”

“Nothing. Nothing, but I did wonder if you noticed how some of the salad seems to be wilting?”

“That’s because of you, moron, I put the dressing on SEVERAL MINUTES ago when I called you to dinner, but you didn’t come out right away.”

“Oh, well, I had to visit the loo. You know this is just about the time of day for me to do so, and I couldn’t very well put that off, could I? Besides why are we eating so early this evening? Usually I have plenty of time to . . . uh, do my thing.”

“Because love of my life, this is our anniversary and I thought we might want to spend some time doing . . . other things this evening.” Seeing Bodie’s slightly puzzled face, Doyle went for the kill. “Besides, you know it takes you quite awhile to get in the mood now days so I figured we’d better eat early so that we can be ready for later.”

Doyle stared at the man he had loved for more than 25 years but was less than impressed as he noticed that Bodie seemed to be ignoring his recent blasphemy of Bodie’s sexual process in favour of Bodie crumpling up his sexy mouth into a grimace of disgust as he spotted something in his salad dish. Picking it up as if it was a slug he had just found in the garden, Bodie tried to focus on the object with his less than 20/20 vision (although he refused to wear glasses unless necessary since they destroyed his good looks) and said, “What is this?”

Doyle looked at the object and immediately announced with a simulated drum roll, “THAT m’lord is a pepper. One often puts them in salads.”

With a whine fit for a child, Bodie immediately broke out with, “But Ray, you know my stomach can’t take those things anymore.” Bodie looked suspiciously at his partner and asked in a tentative voice, “You aren’t trying to get rid of me, are you? You know if I eat that I’ll be up all night with gastric distress.”

“Well, if peppers bother you so much why did you eat that sausage and peppers sandwich we had at the festival just a week ago? I notice your forbidden list changes with every occasion.” This last statement wasn’t exactly fair since Bodie’s stomach had been a bone of contention between the two men for the last ten years or so. It seemed that Bodie’s constant eating of hot, spicy foods had caught up with him, but, if truth be told, it still wasn’t that bad except when Bodie wanted it to be.

Reaching over, Doyle gently removed the offending pepper from his love’s fingers and put it on his plate. “I’m sorry I forgot that you can’t eat those peppers; my memory isn’t what it used to be.”

Hearing a slightly mumbled, “That’s for sure” coming from the man he worshipped, Doyle turned his still dazzling green eyes at his love and said, “What was that?”

“Oh, nothing. Let’s eat then I have a pressie for you.”

“A pressie? Why? Christmas was a couple of days ago.”

“Well, you said it was our anniversary so I figured I’d get you something.”

“Are you sure you’re William Andrew Philip Bodie? I practically had to use thumbscrews on you to get a Christmas pressie from you.”

“Well, if you don’t want it, never mind.” Bodie started to get up from the table but then remembered that he hadn’t eaten yet and forgave Doyle enough for the insult so that he could eat his dinner which proceeded quietly enough except for the slurping sounds coming from Doyle’s side of the table. 

After a few moments of slurping, Bodie finally broke out and demanded, “Do you have to slurp that expensive wine? Do you know how much I paid for it?”

“Yeah, £5, if even that, and I paid for it ‘cause you said that you had forgot to get some cash.” After a few minutes of silence, Doyle continued with, “And I do not slurp. I was simply putting joie de vivre in my drinking pattern this evening.”

Bodie let out a snort, “Well, if you don’t mind me saying so, it’s been a very long pattern since you’ve been slurping any liquid that comes near you since I’ve known you.”

“Ha!Ha! That’s rich; well, I may slurp, but, at least, I have my OWN teeth!!!!”

Bodie was about ready to retaliate when he remembered that it was their anniversary, and he was a lucky man to have the bionic golli (not quite as bionic these days) by his side so he merely mumbled, “Got my own teeth; you ought to know you’ve counted ‘em enough times with that tongue of yours.”

Doyle smiled at the image that crossed his mind. Bodie was right. They both loved to kiss and getting inside each other’s mouth was a great way to start foreplay so he closed his mouth and allowed Bodie to eat. He had a special dessert planned for later. The two men finished their dinners and cleared up the few dishes since Doyle had done most of them earlier. They decided to have an after dinner drink which was now a rare activity since their waist lines had both shown changes with not enough activity and too much drink. Since they had taken on the job as Co-Controllers of CI5 over ten years ago, their bodies had changed (Bodie liked to say that they were falling apart by decades), but they had endeavoured to stay as fit as possible with various exercises, including sex which might not be as often but the cuddling was even more frequent. 

Even though their sex life had slowed down, they were infinitely happier now that they had survived the streets and were still together - - even if they were not up to CI5 street standards. Doyle took a sip of his drink and smiled as he said, “And now what is my pressie?”

Bodie walked over the desk that was in the lounge and pulled out a large envelope. He handed it to Doyle and walked back to his side of the room, watching Doyle with veiled eyes.

Doyle studied the envelope for several minutes then finally opened it. He read the documents over several times before he said anything, then he looked over at Bodie with tears in his eyes and said, “These are documents so we can have one of those civil unions. Is that what you want?”

“Is it what you want?” The look of total and absolute love in Bodie’s blue eyes answered the question in his heart, but he had to know what Doyle wanted. When they had become Co-Controllers they had already been lovers for almost 15 years, and they weren’t about to give each other up just to get the job. Cowley had gone to bat for them and so they had been accepted, but this was different; now they would have a piece of paper recognizing their relationship. They would have certain rights under a recognized law. Was Doyle ready to come out and announce to the world this relationship?

Doyle studied Bodie quietly, trying to read this man he loved so well. For most of their years together, it had always been Bodie who had been reticent to make their homosexual relationship known. Times had changed yes, but in government circles, it was still controversial and a touchy subject to the ruling government, but now civil unions were recognized and Bodie was actually asking him to sign some papers and go through a ceremony that would put that relationship on display for everybody to see and criticize. Hesitating to say anything, Doyle saw the hurt and disappointment forming in the deep blue eyes and knew exactly what he had to say:

“Let’s do it! When can we do it? Who do we have to notify? The Minister, of course. He might not like it.”

Relief flooded Bodie’s body as he rushed over to Doyle and hugged him. “Don’t worry, Angelfish. Got that all worked out. Remember that meeting I had with him before Christmas . . . well when we got done talking budget and a thousand other things . . . well, I sort of broached the idea of us trying out that the Civil Partnership Act. At first, he seemed hesitant then I dropped a hint that you and I might leave the department if we weren’t allowed to do that, and he fell right into line. So we are ready to take the plunge, as it were.”

Doyle looked at his partner with disbelief. He strongly believed that it was a lot harder than that, but he didn’t want to destroy Bodie’s euphoria so he let it go.

Doyle stood up, bringing the slightly taller man with him. The copper coloured hair had quite a bit of grey in it now and the curls had become more tamed, but he was still the gorgeous creature that Bodie had fallen in love with so many years before. Doyle put his arms around Bodie’s neck and kissed him until neither man could breathe; then he let go and said, “Join me in the bedroom?”

Bodie smiled and started to follow Doyle into the bedroom, but he quickly stopped and whirled Doyle around to stare into his green eyes. “Where’s me anniversary pressie?”

Doyle backed away slightly giving his adorable one a devious gaze, “I thought me cookin’ dinner was your pressie. After all I rushed home and prepared that sumptuous repast, and there’s some dessert in the frig for later.”

“Dessert?”

“Yeah, a special, extra large Swiss roll with the date of our anniversary on it and our names.”

“You didn’t have a bakery do that did you?”

“Of course! Well, they made the roll and I decorated it. Now wasn’t that thoughtful of me? ‘Sides there’s champers to celebrate as well, but to get the celebration going I thought we’d have a bath together then maybe after we’re warmed up we could find some other things to do?”

“Great! There’s a couple of good matches on that we can watch.”

Before Doyle could thump his everloving, Bodie gave him his sweetest smile and then ran for the bedroom. Doyle quickly followed, but when he got to the bedroom, he stopped to stare at his beloved who was getting rid of his clothes faster than ants carrying away a picnic. The waistline was thicker, the rigid abs weren’t so rigid, but the same long scar was still on Bodie’s left shoulder blade, a reminder of all those years ago when Doyle cried and asked Bodie what he had gone and done that for? The memory of Bodie going off with the black nurse after weeks in the hospital still caused Doyle pain, not because Bodie had gone out with someone else, but because of how close Doyle had come to losing this precious man.

By this time, Bodie had undressed, gone to the loo, and was snuggled in bed, his arms open to welcome Doyle. For possibly the hundred thousandth time in their long relationship, Doyle stripped away his clothes at his provocative best. He knew that Bodie enjoyed the show immensely, and he wanted to give it his all. A few years before as Doyle started noticing that even his chest and pubic hair were going grey Doyle’s confidence in his appeal was badly shaken. Looking honestly at himself in the mirror, Doyle began to wonder what Bodie could possibly see in him. It had been their twentieth anniversary, and Doyle had been abnormally quiet. Fortunately, Bodie knew exactly what was wrong and began the time in bed laving the dim remains of the scar that indicated Doyle’s fight for life with two bullets in him. Bodie paid homage to Doyle’s body on that evening and quickly pushed his partner over into an ecstasy that they still remembered.

Now five years later, the scar was barely visible because the curly grey hair had covered it over, but Bodie began the same ritual of laving the beloved body. After several moments of contentment, Doyle mumbled, “Thought we were going to have a bath?”

“Later, sweetheart, after we get done strolling down memory lane; then we’ll play with our rubber duckies.”

“Speak for yourself, sir. I’m not using a rubber anything.”

For the next several hours, bathing and hygiene were lost in the ecstasy of cataclysmic orgasms which exhausted both men. Finally after sleeping for several hours, Bodie woke up itching due to the drying semen all over his body. Making sure that Doyle was awake, he announced, “I’ll get the bath water running, if his Royal Highness can force himself to get out of bed.”

“You do that, my slave. I shall join you in a thrice.”

“So grateful, your worship.” Bodie immediately headed towards the loo to run the bathwater. Instead of staying in bed for a few more minutes, Doyle quickly sprung out of bed and ran for the chest of drawers where his anniversary present had been hiding for the last day. Doyle had had to keep it at the office until yesterday since he knew that Bodie was too big a snoop to not find it if it was kept in the apartment.  
As soon as he had the pressie strategically placed, Doyle headed for the bath to enjoy some aquatic games with his better half.

After almost a half hour in the warm surroundings, Doyle left the loo first while Bodie finished shaving. This gave him time to complete the presentation for his pressie. Within moments Bodie entered the bedroom, clothed only in a robe, but stopped himself from saying what he had planned when he saw the bed. All he could think of was one word, “Ray!”

Sitting on the bed was a large cardboard display with palm trees and bright sunshine, radiating a dazzling yellow. Propped up against the display were two tickets. Bodie quickly rushed over and grabbed them. They were tickets to a destination in southern France. Turning to his mate, Bodie asked, “What’s this then?”

“I figured we deserved some time off so I arranged for our own villa in the south of France for a week, and these are the plane tickets that are going to make it happen.”

Drawing the much-loved body into his arms, Bodie whispered into one shell-like ear, “And just how are we going to find a week’s vacation when we’re so busy at CI5?”

Doyle smiled his chipped tooth a magnet to Bodie’s tongue. After a bit of flossing, Doyle pushed his lover back and replied, “I’ve got it all arranged with our erstwhile second in command, Murph to man the helm for the week. After all we’ll only be a few hours away, if we are needed.”

“That’s great. Looks like I’m not the only one working behind our backs, am I?”

“Definitely, not. Murph is anxious to spend some time with his wife later in the spring so this was an equitable trade off. It will be like a second honeymoon what with us having the civil ceremony first.”

“What second honeymoon? I don’t remember the first one.”

Doyle shook his head in mock disgust at his mate’s failing memory; then looked up at the man he loved and smiled, “Don’t you remember just after we saved the city of London from a nuclear meltdown in the bowling alley, we had that obbo in Slough and things got out of hand after Cowley called it off. We . . . uh, sort of got friendly and didn’t leave the surveillance room for several hours afterwards?”

“Ta, seems I do remember that. It was that atom bomb that made me realize how much I loved you and that’s when I popped the question about you and me gettin’ together.”

“I don’t remember it happening exactly that way. I remember you manhandling me when I was going to wipe the floor with that Martin Taylor, but it seems like to me that I was the one who initiated the cuddling and comfort after that, but what difference does it make since we got together and here we are still together after 25 years? Happy Anniversary, Bodie.”

“Happy Anniversary, sunshine.” The kiss lasted until the two men could no longer breathe, but they remained in each other’s arms and headed towards the bed to renew the intimacy that had been the life’s blood of their relationship. As he had done so many times, Bodie held his golli in his arms and traced the almost faded chest scar with his finger tip. Each and every day since Ray’s shooting Bodie thought about what his life would have been like if the golli had left him. Reaching down he gently kissed the still puckered skin. Looking up he whispered, “I love you, Ray. Will you marry me?”

“Going to make an honest man of me, are you?”

“You’re the most honest man I know . . . next to Cowley, that is.”

“Speaking of Cowley, I wonder if he’d come to our ceremony?”

Suddenly, Bodie’s face turned red as his eyes couldn’t meet Doyle’s. “Uh, Ray, I’ve already talked to the Cow about that.”

“What do you mean, you’ve talked to him? You’ve talked to him about us getting hitched before you even proposed to me?”

“Well, I wanted to get his viewpoint on what he thought would happen if I told the Minister about it, and if he thought we would lose our jobs . . . what with us being head of CI5.”

For a moment Doyle was silent then he nodded, seeing Bodie’s point. “And what did he say about the situation?”

“He said he didn’t see a problem since we have never kept our relationship a secret from the government. He said that the government had passed the law so we would be setting a good example . . . and he said that he insisted on standing up with the two of us at the ceremony!!!!

“He did? I don’t believe it.”

“Yeah, he said that since he joined us the first time so many years ago, he wanted to be in on the second edition.”

“Bless him. We’ll have to thank him. Now my soon to be legal partner; how about we have some dessert and then get some sleep. We’ve got big plans to make.”  
“I’m definitely ready for my dessert, sweetheart, but it’s not the one in the frig. I’m going to feast on the one that’s here in my arms. Love you, Ray.”

“This is the best anniversary we’ve ever had, but I’ve got plans for a lot more. Love you, sunshine. Now let’s get to the dessert.”

THE END


End file.
